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Crills and Kleinberg Are Wed

Crills and Kleinberg Are Wed

   Rachel Adele Kleinberg and Chad Michael Crills of Springs were married at the beach at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk on June 24 under a huppah built by the bridegroom. Rabbi Gloria Milner and the Rev. Habacuc Vargas co-officiated in Hebrew and English.

    Ms. Kleinberg, who is keeping her name, is the librarian at the Montauk School. The daughter of Lois and Larry Kleinberg of Amagansett and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., she attended Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and Long Island University.

    Mr. Crills is a private chef who graduated from Johnson and Wales University. His parents are Michael and Jaleen Crills of Ephrata, Pa.

    The couple met through mutual friends on New Year’s Eve several years ago. Mr. Crills proposed on Three Mile Harbor under the Great Bonac Fireworks show in the summer of 2011.

    On her wedding day, the bride wore an ivory floral applique cocktail dress and was attended by Hailey London of Springs as her maid of honor. Mr. Crills, who wore khaki linen pants and a white shirt, was attended by Josh Page, also of Springs, as his best man.

    Ms. London read “On Marriage” by Rainer Maria Rilke, and her mother, Janet London, sang “Tumbalalaika” to musical accompaniment by Jeff London. The bridegroom’s mother read “How Do I Love Thee (Sonnet XLIII)” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

    The couple took a wedding trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

 

Whoa, FedEx Box Vanishes

Whoa, FedEx Box Vanishes

Express mailers found the drop box missing
By
Russell Drumm

   Like the Pony Express with a pony gone lame, FedEx has removed Montauk’s one-and-only drop box, leaving residents with a 12-mile ride to the closest box in Amagansett. Poof, the trusty drop box pony that waited to be loaded up with important missives through all kinds of weather has vanished.

    It’s sad to see people wandering aimlessly, and with increasing desperation, in search of a FedEx box in which to slip an overdue payment, a contract, or, at Christmastime, a gift. But such has been the case for the past few weeks as express mailers found the drop box missing from its most recent location in front of the post office.

    Neither FedEx nor the U.S. Postal Service would talk about it, but their representatives indicated that something had gone wrong nationwide with a contract that allowed FedEx drop boxes to be stabled on government property.

    “I can’t get into that with you,” said the FedEx agent with a pleasant Southern accent.

    “I can’t talk about that,” said Montauk Postmaster Brian Sanders.

    On Dec. 5, the FedEx company sent out an e-mail to Montauk individuals and businesses informing them that “your drop box at 73 Euclid Avenue will be moving by Nov. 30, 2012.”

    This was not news for regular FedEx users. The box had already gone missing. The e-mail informed the boxless that their portal to everywhere U.S.A. and beyond had moved to 136 Main Street, across the Napeague stretch, in Amagansett. “Convenience is still around the corner,” the e-mail said, defining the “around the corner” distance as 12 miles in this case.

    Andre Stevenson, a senior retail analyst with FedEx, said his office had been trying to “get coverage back” to Montauk. “We have to have permission from a landowner,” he said. “Anyone can call me at 901-434-2130. I will give them the information and send them an e-mail that has the instructions to go online to complete the agreement.”

    He sounded like he was champing at the bit.

Set Outline for Maidstone Irrigation Study

Set Outline for Maidstone Irrigation Study

By
Christopher Walsh

    The Maidstone Club’s effort to implement its irrigation improvement project took a small step forward on Friday when the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals approved an outline for an environmental impact statement it has asked the club to prepare.

    The proposed project has sparked a contentious debate between the club, which seeks to install new piping, add a third well, build a pump house, and create a .65-acre holding pond, and opponents who fear noise emanating from the pump house and a detrimental impact on the environment. The club is adjacent to Hook Pond and the Atlantic Ocean. In September, the board voted to require a full environmental study of the project.

    The next step is to decide on the parameters, or scope, of that study. “We’ve had a consultant analyze the submission by the applicant and the various submissions by interested members of the community,” said Andrew Goldstein, the board’s chairman.

    Mr. Goldstein asked the consultant, Charles Voorhis, managing partner of Nelson, Pope, and Voorhis, to explain the process in which he provided the scoping resolution.

    Public comments were made at the board’s Nov. 30 meeting, and the village subsequently received several letters with additional comment. The written comment period expired on Dec. 7, said Mr. Voorhis. “Those have all been considered for the purpose of adopting a final scope, which is the village’s responsibility at this time,” he said. 

    “We’ve taken the draft scope, modified it in order to comply with [State Environmental Quality Review Act] scope format requirements, and included relevant input that was received by the board. This final scope is modified from the one that was available on the 30th, and we’ve added quite a bit of requested detail on the proposed project,” he said.

    The final scope, Mr. Voorhis said, adds content detailing the extent and quality of information needed to address environmental impacts of the project. “There’s a lot of interest, of course, in this project, so many of the things had to do with ensuring that the hydrologic analysis is accurate and well-referenced,” he told the board. The draft scope, he said, included applicant-generated source documents, which are on file with the board. “When those are repackaged into the [environmental impact statement], they’ll be reviewed and subject to scrutiny under the E.I.S. review process. But we wanted to make sure that this was an objective and independent document, and it identified the source documents that are used to generate those conclusions,” he said.

    Jim Sykes, who identified himself as a neighbor and member of the Maidstone Club, expressed concern about a potential increase in mosquito activity at the proposed irrigation pond, referencing a letter addressed to the board by an attorney representing an opponent of the project. “I don’t know if that’s in [the scope] or not,” he said.

    “I don’t think a specific reference to mosquitoes is contained in this scope,” Mr. Goldstein answered. “But the fact is that the applicant, having been forewarned, may include it in their draft of the D.E.I.S. If it is, it will draw comment, and I think at that time you will be free to say whatever you want to say about it.”

    If it is not in the scope, Mr. Sykes asked, would it be proper to raise the issue?

    “I would think it’s going to be,” Mr. Goldstein said. Mr. Voorhis then said that the draft scope contains a detailed outline of an ecological impact assessment that would include changes to the site, particularly at the irrigation pond. That could be added to the final scope, said Mr. Goldstein.

    “May I request that that be done? I don’t think Maidstone would have any objection,” said Mr. Sykes.

    “I think what Mr. Voorhis is saying is that, essentially, it’s in there now, in a generic way,” Mr. Goldstein replied.

    The board also heard from the Rev. Denis Brunelle, the rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. A special permit granted in 2004 with respect to construction of the church’s parish house did not reference children’s playground equipment situated at the edge of the property, Mr. Goldstein said. “Apparently it was a total oversight that it was omitted from the determination granting the special permit,” Mr. Goldstein said. “So we’d like to modify the special permit.”

    “It wasn’t on any of the surveys, so we’re trying to have the original determination reflect the fact that the playground has been in existence there for well over 50 years,” said Mr. Brunelle, who added that the church wants to dispose of old playground equipment that has become unsafe and replace it with new equipment. “We’re just trying to follow the right procedure.”

    The board can modify the special permit, Mr. Goldstein said. “That’s what we’ll do.”

Citizens Committee on Storm Prep, A.R.B.

Citizens Committee on Storm Prep, A.R.B.

Emergency shelters, evacuation on ACAC agenda
By
Christopher Walsh

   On Monday the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Commmitee discussed lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy, which struck the region on Oct. 29, as well as a proposal to do away with the town’s architectural review board.

    Kieran Brew, the committee’s chairman, raised the topic of emergency planning. “I’m just trying to start the conversation,” Mr. Brew said. “You don’t really think about it until it’s too late.”

    Members considered forming a subcommittee that would maintain a database of people needing to be picked up and evacuated in an emergency, as well as of volunteers and their particular skills.

    Designating East Hampton High School as the sole emergency shelter doesn’t make sense, said Sheila Okin, when the Napeague area is susceptible to flooding. “How do people get from Montauk to the high school?” she asked.

    Mr. Brew said he would ask Bruce Bates, East Hampton Town’s emergency preparedness coordinator, to attend a future meeting.

    Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, ACAC’s liaison to the town board, discussed a hearing last Thursday at which the board considered a proposal to merge the architectural review board with the planning board.

    Committee members were quick to note the A.R.B.’s positive influence on the appearance of the senior citizens housing recently completed on the grounds of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church.

    One need only compare the original plan to what it looked like following the A.R.B.’s input, said Ms. Okin, to recognize the board’s value. An architectural review board, said John Broderick, is part of good government.

    By virtue of its two historic districts, said Jeanne Frankl, Amagansett has a particular interest in an architectural review board. An A.R.B., said Betty Mazur, “encourages more citizen participation in government,” and the community benefits from the diverse opinions and delegation of various tasks such a board allows. The planning board, she said, “has more than enough to do.” The A.R.B., Ms. Overby agreed, is an important part of the community and comes at minimal expense.

    The councilwoman also updated the committee as to the town’s draft deer management plan, which had brought some 30 speakers and many more letters and e-mails bearing a wide range of opinion before the town board. Two residents of Amagansett have written to the board to express opposition to the use of firearms in the Bell Estate area, she said. Ms. Overby encouraged committee members to make their feelings known to the board.

    The board has received four requests for qualification regarding the town’s scavenger waste treatment plant, Ms. Overby said. “I’m hopeful that we can select, as we move forward, a request for proposal that would address the comprehensive wastewater management plan, and within that plan discuss the role the scavenger waste plant would play,” she said.

    In new business, Britton Bistrian addressed the Long Island Rail Road’s Amagansett station, specifically its unattractive appearance. Wi

th no action by the railroad forthcoming, the Amagansett Village Improvement Society, said Joan Tulp, would like to help, if it could. “We have wonderful plans but no money,” Ms. Tulp said.

Jarm-Brown

Jarm-Brown

Engagement
By
Star Staff

    Richard and Karen Brown of Washington Avenue in Montauk have announced the engagement of their daughter Amanda Marie Brown to Matthew Ryan Jarm. Mr. Jarm’s parents, Robert and Patty Jarm, live in Annandale, Va.

    Ms. Brown received a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University in Virginia and a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from George Mason University. She is a second-grade teacher at Forest Edge Elementary School in Reston, Va.

    Mr. Jarm graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance. He is a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

    They will be married on June 30, 2013, at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk.

Life Lived One Miracle at a Time

Life Lived One Miracle at a Time

“Mia’s my teacher. She’s guiding us through this,” said Francesca Buffo, with her daughter, Mia Bella, and husband, Noah Zingarelli.
“Mia’s my teacher. She’s guiding us through this,” said Francesca Buffo, with her daughter, Mia Bella, and husband, Noah Zingarelli.
By
Carissa Katz

    When their daughter, Mia Bella, was born, Francesca Buffo and Noah Zingarelli, formerly of Springs, were told she would live a month, maybe a year at most, but Mia defied the odds at many turns, and in February will celebrate her sixth birthday — a miracle her parents prayed for, but could never count on.

    Mia was born with pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency, commonly called P.D.H. deficiency, a mitochondrial disease. She has severe epilepsy, respiratory disease, very limited sight and hearing, and low muscle tone that prohibits her from eating orally or walking or sitting on her own. “She’s completely dependent on us,” Ms. Buffo said over the telephone last week.

    Ms. Buffo and Mr. Zingarelli have made it through the past six-plus years with the support of family, extraordinary doctors and nurses, teachers, friends, and an extended community both on the South Fork, where they grew up, and in the Boston area, where they live now. Often, they’ve depended on the generosity of friends and even strangers to provide their daughter with the many things that health insurance does not cover.

    Now, the family is looking for assistance to buy an adapted minivan equipped with a wheelchair lock so they can transport Mia to school, doctors’ appointments, and around town. A cocktail party on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the community center of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Bridgehampton will raise money for the van, which can cost up to $40,000, used.

    Beyond the emotional challenges of having a child with a life-threatening illness and around-the-clock medical needs, the financial strain is enormous. Mia’s medical bills had reached nearly $1 million, when “we worked with a social worker and it was forgiven,” Ms. Buffo said last week. After using her credit cards to pay for necessary equipment that medical insurance would not cover, Ms. Buffo, an interior designer who has been unable to work since her pregnancy, eventually couldn’t make the minimum monthly payments and had to declare bankruptcy. “So many families with kids like Mia are going through similar circumstances. You’ve just got to put one foot in front of the other.”

    “It’s very difficult to ask for help,” Ms. Buffo said, but on both the emotional and financial fronts, “it’s amazing the support we have gotten. . . . The love that’s in this community has been amazing.”

    “Knowing you’re not alone is a huge thing for us, and for Mia,” she said.

    Mr. Zingarelli and Ms. Buffo’s parents still live here. Martha Buffo, her mother, and his mom, Donna Zingarelli, who works for Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, are organizing Saturday’s fund-raiser.

    The couple were living in Los Angeles when Ms. Buffo became pregnant. She found out in her 19th week that the baby would have serious medical issues, but doctors could not say exactly what they would be. They moved back to the East Coast to be near family. When Mia was born at Stony Brook University Medical Center, “the neonatologists were at our side,” Ms. Buffo said. “There have been issues from the moment she came out until today.” Mia has microcephaly, “which means that the brain is formed really small,” her mother explained.

    The doctors at Stony Brook did not have the facilities to handle Mia’s situation, but through extensive research, the couple learned about Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard’s pediatric teaching facility. After two months at Stony Brook, Mia was transferred to Boston on April 1, 2007. She remained in the intensive care unit there for three weeks, and lived in the hospital until that June. “We decorated her side of the room like a baby’s room,” Ms. Buffo said. Life in the hospital was “Mia’s reality,” and that of her parents, too.

    “I was very lost,” Ms. Buffo recalled. “We had no idea what to do.” But through more research, constant visits with doctors, and connecting with other parents in similar situations, they have found their way forward.

    “I’d never been so involved in the medical world,” Ms. Buffo said. Now, “When a child’s born with a ‘mito’ disease, I’m a family advocate. It’s very rewarding and very therapeutic for me.”

    When Ms. Buffo learned that she is a carrier for Mia’s disease, the couple decided not to have other children. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also so beautiful that I get to spend quality time with Mia.”

    Mia is enrolled in a special-needs teaching school on the Boston College campus, which has a nursing staff. She also has around-the-clock home nursing care because many of her needs are too great for her parents to handle without professional backup. “When she gets sick, she gets really sick,” and even an illness that might be minor for other children can be life-threatening for her. “We never know when she’s going to pass,” Ms. Buffo said. “She probably won’t live to be a teenager.”

    Developmentally, Ms. Buffo said, Mia is about 6 months old, and communicates with some of the same simple sounds of a baby at that age. Her parents know when she is excited or happy, when she is content, or when something new intrigues her. She can see peripherally, and has a keen sense of smell. “She smells me. She knows as soon as I pull up at school.” But “simple things like eating something delicious,” Mia will never experience.

    “Sometimes you feel like you’re drowning,” Ms. Buffo said, but she and her husband “stopped asking, ‘Why did this happen to us?’ ” They look instead to the gifts Mia has given them. “She’s taught us so much beyond what I would have ever expected. . . . She’s just all love. She’s brilliant. Mia’s my teacher. She’s guiding us through this.”

    “Making decisions as a parent has been very rough,” Ms. Buffo said. “I find peace in the fact that I know we’re doing the right thing for us.”

    Entry to the fund-raiser on Saturday will be by donation of any amount. There will also be a raffle. Those who cannot make the party but would like to make a donation toward the minivan may do so by mailing a check to Miracle for Mia, P.O. Box 1463, Bridgehampton 11932. Donations can also be made by PayPal on Mr. Zingarelli’s blog about his daughter, zingoswest.blogspot.com.

    The family plans to attend the fund-raiser on Saturday if Mia is in good health.

Cats and Dogs in Rockaways Need Help Too

Cats and Dogs in Rockaways Need Help Too

Andy Sabin, left, and Fran Cirillo, the owner of the Amagansett I.G.A., right, sent 110 pounds of cat litter, 100 cases of cat food, and 100 cases of dog food to the Rockaways last Thursday.
Andy Sabin, left, and Fran Cirillo, the owner of the Amagansett I.G.A., right, sent 110 pounds of cat litter, 100 cases of cat food, and 100 cases of dog food to the Rockaways last Thursday.
Carrie Ann Salvi
By
Carrie Ann Salvi

    “It’s horrible here,” said Linda Shapiro of East Hampton, after arriving in the Rockaways last Thursday with a van filled with pet supplies.

    Learning on the radio about what she called a “desperate need for pet food and litter” in the towns where she grew up, she called Andy Sabin of Springs, a friend and fellow animal-lover, to help. He immediately agreed, and a van was loaded with 1,000 bags of cat litter, 1,000 cans of dog food, and 1,000 cans of cat food.

    Fran Cirillo, an owner of the I.G.A. in Amagansett, offered to split the cost. Grateful that both of her stores, in Amagansett and Bellport, survived and have been able to stay open with generator power, she has helped the less fortunate as much as possible.

    Mr. Sabin, who matched Saturday night’s hurricane relief benefit concert donations of $17,000 after organizers agreed to add animal charities to the list of beneficiaries, said he would continue to supply needed pet food to Jay Rogoff, a veterinarian who went to Far Rockaway High School with Ms. Shapiro. 

    Dr. Rogoff and his wife, Phillis, like most people in the area, lost nearly everything in their Belle Harbor home, including their cars, and have been living at a Holiday Inn at LaGuardia Airport. The vet said he was trying to keep his hospital, the Animal Hospital of the Rockaways, operational despite the loss of $200,000 worth of uninsured equipment. The hospital had been renovated not long before the storm.

    “We are seeing patients without electric and heat,” Dr. Rogoff said last Thursday, and offering both food and medication to the animals.

    “We lost our X-ray machine, our ultrasound machine, our high-speed dental units . . . everything was under five feet of water,” his wife said. “We are trying to get back up and running, and will make [pet] food available to anyone who needs.”

    Asked how she and her husband were holding up, Ms. Rogoff replied, “Each one of us breaks down on different days.”

    Sanitation departments are starting to “get rid of the stuff,” she said of the mountains of rubble piled in the streets. “It’s not in your face that much — that does help.” The couple must replace all the electric wiring, which wound up under five feet of salt water, in their home and hospital.

    This is “only our first effort,” said Ms. Shapiro. Board members of the Southampton Animal Foundation will help finance the next shipment, she said.

    Jonathan McCann, the foundation’s president, called it “one seaside community coming out to support another.” The foundation funds the Southampton Animal Shelter in Hampton Bays, working in partnership with Southampton Town as part of the town’s emergency planning. The shelter took in five dogs and three cats free of charge for people who evacuated during Sandy, said Mr. McCann. All the pets had been returned as of Nov. 14.

    Anyone wishing to donate toward the rebuilding of the Animal Hospital of the Rockaways, which has provided cutting-edge medical care to that community for 35 years, will find the link to do so on a Facebook page called “Help the Animal Hospital of the Rockaways.”

A Dry, Storm-Free Month

A Dry, Storm-Free Month

By
Carissa Katz

    Weather-wise, last month was noteworthy not for any storms we had, but because we had no severe storms, said Richard G. Hendrickson, the United States Cooperative weather observer in Bridgehampton.

    “November is usually the month for 60-to-70-mile-per-hour winds and severe coastal erosion,” Mr. Hendrickson wrote in his monthly weather report.

    “Years ago, a sailing ship or a steamer was ashore, trees down, any fruit left on the farmer’s orchard was all blown down, grazing cattle were brought back from the grazing fields in Montauk, and it was cider-making time. Of course, it was then time to husk the field corn, split the firewood, and put storm windows on the farm home,” recalled Mr. Hendrickson, a retired farmer who turned 100 this year.

    “The last of the squash and pumpkins were brought in for baking. All crops and livestock were brought under cover for the winter. Then, on a nice day, seaweed was banked on the north and west side of the home foundation. While getting the seaweed, one would get a mess of clams or scallops.” Colder days meant inside jobs like making headcheese and salt pork, bacon and hams, and cider from the orchard apples.

    The warmest day last month was the 13th, when it was 66 degrees. The coldest night was Nov. 27, at 25 degrees.

    There was rain on six days last month for a total of 1.24 inches, a small amount compared to the long-term average of 4.25 inches. November, Mr. Hendrickson said, “is often one of the wettest months of the year.”

Gaddi, Maietta Married in Montauk

Gaddi, Maietta Married in Montauk

Nina Lily

    Stephanie Maietta and Peter Gaddi returned to Montauk, where they met and fell in love, to be married on Oct. 19.

    The couple, who have spent decades of summers in Montauk with their families, were wed at St. Therese of Lisieaux Catholic Church, with a reception following at the Montauk Yacht Club.

    The bride is the daughter of Kathy and Allen Maietta of Franklin Lakes, N.J., and Montauk. She grew up in New Jersey and is a graduate of Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. Her husband’s parents, Regina and Peter Gaddi of Lake Geneva, Wis., where he grew up, also own a house in Montauk. Mr. Gaddi graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and then lived in California, where Ms. Maietta eventually joined him.

    Mr. Gaddi is a partner in a financial brokerage firm that he founded, Dolan Gaddi Lending, in San Diego. His wife teaches junior high English at St. Patrick’s School in San Diego.

    The bridegroom wore a navy three-piece suit and the bride wore a sweeping strapless dress with a sheer veil to the floor and a flower in her hair. Her maid of honor was her childhood friend Nicole DeCarlo of Franklin Lakes.

    Her attendants included her cousin Suzanne Maietta of East Hampton, her sister-in-law Kim Maietta of Folsom, Pa., her friend Carrie Creegan of Weatherly, Pa., and the bridegroom’s sister, Megan Gaddi of New York City. Kayla Maietta of Folsom, the bride’s niece, was also a bridesmaid and Vincent Maietta of Folsom, her nephew, was the ringbearer.

    Mr. Gaddi’s brothers, William and Dillon Gaddi of San Diego, stood with him as best men, along with his childhood friends Beau Roddy of Lake Geneva; Timothy Black, Erik Dortch, and Chris Obligato, all of Chicago, and Gregory Gould of San Diego. The bride’s brothers, Keith Maietta of Folsom, Steven Maietta of Franklin Lakes, and Nick Maietta of Cambridge, Mass., were also groomsmen. 

    The couple returned to San Diego after the wedding. They plan a wedding trip to Paris in the summer.

 

Citizens Committee Covers Nuisances

Citizens Committee Covers Nuisances

John Jilnicki, second from left, East Hampton Town’s top staff attorney, heard concerns from Hy Brodsky, right, about quality-of-life enforcement and other issues during a meeting Monday of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee.
John Jilnicki, second from left, East Hampton Town’s top staff attorney, heard concerns from Hy Brodsky, right, about quality-of-life enforcement and other issues during a meeting Monday of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee.
Janis Hewitt
By
Janis Hewitt

    John Jilnicki, the East Hampton Town attorney, told the members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and quite a few guests on Tuesday evening that the town is in the process of overhauling several provisions of the town code to make them specific to the hamlet, including the law on mass gathering permits and noise violations. “The legislation we have now is difficult for most people to understand,” he said. The committee, concerned about whether summonses have been issued for code violations, had been trying for some time to get Mr. Jilnicki to a meeting

    The conversation Tuesday centered on mass-gathering permits. Members brought up a party called Shark Attack Sounds held at Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe on East Lake Drive in the summer, saying the crowd exceeded by thousands the 800 people allowed under the permit.

     Ben Watts, the brother of the actress Naomi Watts, and his girlfriend, Jeanann Williams, hosted the event. Ms. Williams was quoted afterward saying the police broke it up but that next year the party would be even bigger and better.

    It was reported at the time that East Hampton Town police, code enforcement officers, and Montauk Fire Department emergency vehicles had trouble getting to the site because of the number of people lining the narrow two-lane road. An ambulance couldn’t respond to an emergency call, they recalled.

    Dominick Stanzione, the committee’s town board liaison, said the town code now allows the town board to withhold permits from repeat offenders, including anyone who exceeds the number of people allowed or who knowingly provides inaccurate information. Mr. Jilnicki said that estimates are sought from police, sanitation, and other departments of the cost of servicing each party, and that the actual amount the town spends is often much higher. Committee members suggested that a security deposit be required for large parties. “Proprietors have to take some responsibility,” said Ray Cortell, a member.

    Moving on to noise, Anne Magli of Second House Road, who lives between Ruschmeyer’s and Solé East, popular nightspots, questioned Mr. Jilnicki about those violations. She claimed that one establishment had received eight summonses for loud music and wondered at what point its music permit should have been pulled. “These people should not be given permit after permit because they don’t know how to behave themselves,” she said.

    Mr. Jilnicki described the process by which notice of more than three violations would be sent to the town board. A hearing would be held and revocation of the business’s license could follow.

    “But they’re not. The town is allowing this massive overcrowding and that’s what’s fueling the problem. There’s a process breakdown,” Ms. Magli said.

    Members asked if data was compiled to make it easier for the town board to recognize repeat offenders. Mr. Jilnicki said that isn’t done, but he added, “It would really be helpful for the board to review that data.” Members also questioned why it took so long for violations to come up for adjudication. “That’s a problem that is not exclusive to East Hampton,” Mr. Jilnicki said, blaming the court system.

    On another topic, the committee learned that the town is considering a code change that would set up a system to monitor taxi drivers and to receive complaints. If adopted, taxicab owners would be required to obtain annual licenses for their businesses and for each driver. They also would be subject to criminal background checks and fingerprinting, Mr. Jilnicki said. “This will give it some teeth.”

    Ed Michels, the town’s senior harbormaster, also spoke about members’ concerns at the meeting, commenting on recent reports of contamination in Lake Montauk. Members, worrying that boaters are discharging waste even though discharge is prohibited, asked for signs to be placed at the entrance to the harbor. Mr. Michels said he had patrolled Lake Montauk for up to 20 years and had never found a boat in violation. As soon as he or the Coast Guard board a boat, the head is checked, he said. “Most people know that it is a no-discharge zone,” he said. Saying that Montauk Harbor usually sees twice the number of boats in season as Three Mile Harbor, he said 54,000 gallons of sanitary waste had been pumped out legally.

    Mr. Michels said boats were being moored in the lake without a town permit and left unattended. “I don’t like boats being left alone. If they don’t see us or the cops they’re going to take advantage,” he said. The harbormaster urged committee members to call in complaints. Although it is not financially possible to have as many full-time officers as it would take to patrol every body of water all the time, he said the town had hired some part-time marine patrol officers. “But make your calls. It’s a complaint-driven process.”